


The Shushan Letters I

by Port



Series: The Shushan Letters [1]
Category: Megillat Ester | Book of Esther, תנ"ך | Tanakh
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 11:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Port/pseuds/Port
Summary: Vashti remained queen an entire year after being sent away, whiling away the time in her brother’s palace.





	The Shushan Letters I

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Treon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treon/gifts).



> Purim sameakh, Treon! Hope you get lots of hamentaschen today. Please enjoy this holiday-appropriate fic!
> 
> The image was sketched by the author.
> 
> Thanks as always to the wonderful mods, who make Purim extra sweet every year!

Vashti remained queen an entire year after being sent away. She whiled away the time in her brother’s palace, where she had lived before going to Shushan. At first she raged around the place, glaring at anyone who spoke to her and, in the absence of company, shooting dark looks at the walls. When that grew tedious and the reality of her circumstances set in, she became sad. Her husband was really, really not perfect, but she had loved him in a special sort of way, and she had found satisfaction in the work she was able to do as queen. Now that was all past.

She lay about on the couches in her rooms for days, missing the stimulation and society of her lost life. Then one afternoon she heard laughter and yelling through her window. Down on the great lawn her nieces and nephews were playing kick-ball in the sun. She realized it had been ages since she had played kick-ball. When she went outside, the grass crisp and fragrant beneath her feet, she realized it had been forever since she had gone outside.

“Well, this has got to stop,” she murmured as she cut into the game, intercepting a ball that had gone out of bounds and passing it gently to one of the smaller children. She thought probably she was echoing a lot of people’s thoughts, particularly everyone she’d glared at for no reason.

After playing kick-ball and picnicking with the children, Vashti bathed and went to her offices. She had had duties here too, before becoming queen of a distant land, duties that had given structure and definition to her life. 

Her offices had clearly been repurposed while she was gone and then quickly restored for her sudden return. Vashti rolled her eyes and got down to the business of sorting out what there was to do.

The answer was, not much. In her absence, her duties had been redistributed to other people. She would have to speak to her brother about her restored role, though if that was going to involve diplomacy then her marriage to a foreign king who had put her out of his house might be problematic.

As she sat back at her desk, pondering, a messenger arrived. He bowed low and handed her two scrolls. The first had a royal seal; it was from her husband. Dread kicked Vashti’s stomach, and her skin went hot, then icy cold. When she opened it, she found a legal document, a divorce!

Glad this hadn’t been delivered to her in the throes of her depression, Vashti let go a deep breath. It didn’t feel real that her marriage was over, but to have confirmation in her hands was a relief. In a way, she was free. To avoid ruminating too long, she turned to the second scroll, and had a dizzy moment of surrealism seeing the seal of the queen of Shushan impressed upon it.

It turned out to be from a common girl named Esther, who the king had married and installed in all of the accoutrements of Vashti’s old life. “Well, that puts the paint on the sarcophagus,” Vashti thought, scanning the first few paragraphs, which consisted of Esther telling her story in a remarkably personal manner. But the text soon took a turn for the horrifying, as Esther described hearing tell of a plot against the king. 

“My foster-father had me tell the king, and the matter was investigated, and the plotters were impaled. Nothing I could have ever done before now would have resulted in a man’s death. I suppose that’s why I’m writing you. In the harem, I was treated well but every single day was about beauty and cosmetics. Nothing prepared me for being responsible for other people. 

“While you were queen, I admired you so much. You were regal, and wise, and frankly quite savvy when it came to politics. Even the event that led us here, if I may be so bold as to mention it, speaks to your integrity.”

The girl closed with all the proper expressions of thanks and a brave request for a reply. Vashti considered chucking it in the fire, but only for a moment. Esther had saved the king’s life, just like that, without even thinking about it. The girl didn’t seem confident about her chances as queen, but she was off to a good start. Esther’s good deed would serve her well; no one that earnest made it long in the palace of Shushan without a little gratitude from the right person.

She found some ink and parchment and wrote to Esther right away. “While it’s true that you will have many responsibilities now, I should reassure you that this wretched murder plot is likely to be the most exciting thing that happens in the course of your reign.”

She wondered, as she sealed the reply using her own sign, dug up from storage, whether her misfortune might not have some twisted purpose. Esther’s foster-father would never have been on the palace grounds to hear of the plot had Esther not been there instead of Vashti. Vashti would have certainly reported the men, but she would never have known about them in the first place. If the king had not put Vashti out, he might this day have been dead.

Unsettled, Vashti went out to look for her brother. They needed to talk about her future.


End file.
